Ruddington’s famous chemist’s shop WILL soon be moving from its historic home on High Street – after permission was granted by Rushcliffe planners for a move to larger, purpose-built premises nearby.
Evans Pharmacy has received approval for its new, state-of-the-art building at 11 Charles Street with revised plans drawn up by Nottingham’s Allan Joyce Architects.
It will fill in the gap between Old Dairy Cottage and the back of Ruddington Library – and involve the conversion of one room of the cottage into a consulting area. A new, dedicated four space car parking area is to be constructed at the rear.
The building is within the Ruddington Conservation Area and so, over summer, changes to the original plans were made for it to mirror the design of Old Dairy Cottage more closely. These included revised windows, a flat front wall, a central shop doorway and a slate roof (top plan). The revised ground floor layout inside can be seen right.
After questions were asked by disgruntled villagers about WHY Evans Pharmacy NEEDED to move from its more central site, the company issued this explanation:
“Whilst we have enjoyed working in our current High Street location, there are some limitations. There is limited parking on the High Street and we are particularly concerned to ensure that we are accessible to all. The new Ruddington pharmacy will have a car park and it will also be closer to both GP surgeries in the village.
Today, pharmacies are offering more services than ever before. Increasingly people are wanting a private area to discuss their health needs. The consultation room in our current branch is cramped. The shape of the shop makes it very difficult to change this. The new pharmacy will have a more spacious consultation room. This will make consultations with more than one person, for example a parent and young child, more pleasant for people using the pharmacy.
Our current branch has limited storage facilities. The move will mean that we can stock a larger range of patient information and that this will be more accessible to people who use the pharmacy.”
It’s not thought the new building will be ready until the middle of next year. However, with four other shop units on High Street already empty at the moment, the relocation still may not be embraced by some shoppers and other village traders.
At least there’s ONE welcome piece of news on that front – that No 1 High Street, next to Nottingham Building Society, will soon be in use again. Planners have given consent for Kimberley Smith to change it back from office space to a beauty salon. So expect to see some long-awaited activity there soon!
